Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations were performed to investigate schemes for enhancing the energy conversion efficiency of thermoelectric nanowires (NWs), including (1) roughening of the nanowire surface, (2) creating nanoparticle inclusions in the nanowires, and (3) coating the nanowire surface with other materials. The enhancement in energy conversion efficiency was inferred...

The enhancement of the thermal performance of Vacuum Tube Solar Collectors (VTSC) was studied by using alumina nanofluid as working fluid. VTSC is a simple and commonly utilized type of collector. This study established the heat transfer experimental model of all glass VTSCs used in a forced-circulation solar water heating system using alumina nanofluid as base fluid. Al2O3 (with an average par...

The increasing worldwide energy consumption calls for the design of more efficient energy systems. Thermoelectrics could be used to convert waste heat back to useful electric energy if only more efficient materials were available. The ideal thermoelectric material combines high electrical conductivity and thermopower with low thermal conductivity. In this regard, the intermetallic type-I clathr...

Mu-opioid agonists are effective analgesics but have undesirable effects such as sedation and abuse liability that limit their clinical effectiveness. Serotonergic systems also modulate nociception, and serotonin uptake inhibitors may be useful as adjuncts to enhance analgesic effects and/or attenuate undesirable effects of mu agonists. This study examined the effects of the serotonin uptake in...

We compute the spectra and elliptic flow of thermal photons emitted in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions (URHICs) at RHIC and LHC. The thermal emission rates are taken from complete leading-order rates for the QGP and hadronic many-body calculations including baryons and antibaryons, as well as meson-exchange reactions (including Bremsstrahlung). We first update previous thermal fireball c...

walled carbon nanotube inclusions Sivasankaran Harish, Kei Ishikawa, Shohei Chiashi, Junichiro Shiomi, Shigeo Maruyama Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. We report large contrasts in the thermal conductivity enhancement of phase change alkanes in liquid and solid state with single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) inclusion...

We demonstrated experimentally that graphene-Cu-graphene heterogeneous films reveal strongly enhanced thermal conductivity as compared to the reference Cu and annealed Cu films. Chemical vapor deposition of a single atomic plane of graphene on both sides of 9 μm thick Cu films increases their thermal conductivity by up to 24% near room temperature. Interestingly, the observed improvement of the...

The characteristics of waste activated sludge (WAS) were investigated by batch and continuous experiments using thermal pretreatment in the anaerobic digestion. The solubilization ratios of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), protein and carbohydrate increased as 14.8 21.5, 14.7 23.5, and 21 35 %, respectively. The ∼ ∼ ∼ maximum value of specific methane production was achieved at the thermal pre...

Effective thermal conductivity of mixtures of  uids and nanometer-size particles is measured by a steady-state parallel-plate method. The tested  uids contain two types of nanoparticles, Al2O3 and CuO, dispersed in water, vacuum pump  uid, engine oil, and ethylene glycol. Experimental results show that the thermal conductivities of nanoparticle– uid mixtures are higher than those of the bas...

The preparation of nanofluids is very important to their thermophysical properties. Nanofluids with the same nanoparticles and base fluids can behave differently due to different nanofluid preparation methods. The agglomerate sizes in nanofluids can significantly impact the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids and lead to a different heat transfer performance. Ultrasonication is a c...